Viral Outbreak In Raccoon City!
by marcus648
Summary: This was written before the game was released when I only knew the characters' first names and assumed their roles in the story by pictures that I had seen of them in magazines. Hope it's interesting. R & R!
1. What Is Going On In This Town?

Chapter One 

"Damn it! I'm late". Kevin Watson was on his way to the Raccoon City Police Department and looking at his watch, he didn't have much time to get there.

After a few too many snoozes, his alarm clock had woken him up at eight-thirty giving him just enough time to shower, dress and jump into his jeep. He hadn't even had time to eat breakfast yet and the snack machine at the station just wouldn't cut it.

It was another evening job that he'd been signed up for, which he hated the most_. Evenings were for rest and relaxation not for racing in Raccoon City_. He now had just ten minutes to make a twenty-minute journey so a stop at Remy's seemed out of the question considering the typical rush-hour traffic. After looking at the low fuel gauge in his jeep Kevin decided to stop at the gas station to fill up his jeep for work. After all, he didn't want to be in a situation where he had no fuel during a chase. _Maybe I'll get something from the store here to eat on the way, at least until lunchtime anyway._

He filled up the jeep and went inside to pay, grabbing a blueberry muffin from one of the shelves as well as nice cold bottle of Coke. He took out his wallet from his navy uniform pants and took out some money ready to pay. But when he reached the counter there was nobody there to serve him. "Hello? Is anybody there? I'll just leave the money on the counter. Keep the change."

But as he turned to walk away, he heard someone calling, their voice weak and strained. "Wait…there…" Kevin turned back toward to counter to find a pale-faced man about thirty looking back at him from behind the counter.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked. By the look of the man he looked very sick, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead, his eyes red and bloodshot. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

"No I'm fine…it's just a cold". The man said struggling to breathe.

"You don't look fine to me. I'm taking you to the hospital right now." And with that the man fell to the floor, eyes closed, as though he was asleep. Kevin shoved his arms under the man's arms and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder. He didn't weigh much; about eight stone at the most, when he was healthy, but his illness had reduced his weight drastically.

Kevin jogged to the back door of the garage shop and pushed it open with his free shoulder. Then he was running to the jeep, putting the man in the back and setting off for the hospital.

_Oh crap! What about the gridlock traffic? You're a cop remember! Use the siren. _He opened the glove box and took out the red light and placed it on the roof of the jeep. "We should be there in no time", he said to the man, who looked a lot worse than he had a minute ago. _I just hope I can get there in time._

However, when he turned down Prescott Street he wasn't met with the usual gridlock traffic, instead the place seemed disturbingly deserted. As though the clocks had been turned back and he was the only one who didn't know.

Kevin tried to shake off the feelings of tension knotting his stomach as he ran his fingers through his short brown hair. _I guess I'll be able to make it to the hospital a lot faster. I just hope he's okay back there. He hasn't woken up yet though. If I get him there in time he should be fine…I hope._

_Where is everybody?_ Cindy Baker thought to herself as she walked through the glass door of Remy's. It was an old-American style diner, open 24-7, selling burgers and chips. Most of the people that came by here were out-of-towners looking for a quick meal before setting off for work. But now, at eight-thirty in the evening, the place was deserted.

Cindy liked working here because everyday was different. There was always a new face around the place bringing their stories with their appetite, stories about their culture, which was so different to hers. It was a welcome change to hearing about city life. She longed to get away from Raccoon City. After all, she was only working at the diner until she had enough money to leave. But this place held her back, the interesting lifestyle she had was so different to the monotonous lifestyle waiting to consume her when she left.

Walking over to the staff station of the diner, she noticed how untidy the place was. Menus were scattered across the floor as well as a few knives and forks. It had never been like this before. If everybody had left to go home they would have at least cleaned the place up a bit. _But they couldn't have left_, Cindy thought. _The sign says 'OPEN'._

Convinced that the diner wasn't closed, Cindy continued her search for her other co-workers. Even her best friend, Rose, who worked the same shift as her wasn't there to greet her as usual. _Where is she? Where is everybody? What's going on around here? It's as though everyone's left and nobody's told me._

_What about the kitchen? Maybe Mr Clark's around._ Mr Clark was her boss and an all round Mr nice guy. If Cindy or any of the other employees were being hassled he would quickly come to their rescue. He was in his early-forties and still had a great sense of humour. Even though he had recently had a divorce with his wife there was always a smile on his face.

She reached the kitchen door and opened it slowly, cautiously, to see what was behind it-

And Cindy froze-

Her best friend was laying still on the floor of the kitchen her eyes glazed open, her expression shocked. Cindy almost threw up at the sight of her best friend lying there helpless. They'd know each other since high school, were going to leave Raccoon City together and get away from it all. _But not anymore! Who could have done this? _Anger welled up inside Cindy as tears rolled down her face. "Who would do such a thing to an innocent young woman and why?"

As she stepped closer towards her friend's corpse she had to close her eyes in disgust, trying to block out what she had just seen. Chunks of flesh from the back of Rose's neck had been ripped out, bite marks framing the wounds.

BANG! Cindy jumped as her boss came through the kitchen door. "Mr Clark?" Cindy shouted, confused by the expression on his face, his eyes white and lifeless as though his mind was somewhere else. But there was no answer. If anything he came at her faster. She had to get out of the way and fast.

_There was an emergency exit at the back of the kitchen to the right, but would I make it in time?_ She didn't care. It was her only hope of escaping. Then she was up, running for the green door at the back that would save her, doubt filling her mind. _What if it's locked? What happened to Mr Clark? What's going on?_

Finally she reached the door after what seemed like hours rather than seconds. Her heart was beating faster and faster, adrenaline pumping around her body, the fear of near death pushing her further.

_He's coming closer. I'm going to die. _She dared herself to look back at her pursuer, a completely different person to the one she knew. And Rose was on her feet coming towards her too. Her eyes filled with the same mindless white, wearing the same glazed over expression that Mr Clark wore and suddenly Cindy didn't know what to do.


	2. Cafeteria Chase

**Chapter Two**

Sirens blocked out the strange moaning sounds coming from Rose and Mr Clark, bringing Cindy's mind back to the madness unfolding in the large kitchen of Remy's. The place she had once felt safe in was now turning into a house of horrors. What had happened to Mr Clark? And Rose, wasn't her lifeless body on the floor a minute ago?

She would have to find out later. It was just too weird for her brain to take in. She pushed the door open with all her strength and almost fell into a pile of leftover food. But she was up and on her feet in an instant pushing herself more and more. _I have to get out of here, fast. But where would I go? I need to just find somewhere to gather my thoughts. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this._

To her right were two or three garbage cans that she could make out in the evening sunlight as the sun began to hide beneath the horizon. To her left was an alleyway that led into the street.

She ran down the alleyway, straight into the road, not wanting to stop, to have to go back in that room. Finally she stopped herself to catch her breath, pushing her blond hair back behind her ears, her palms sweating. _What had just happened in there?_

Suddenly, Cindy was blinded by light coming straight toward her and thought no more.

"What the hell is that? Hey! Get out of the way!" Kevin swerved to avoid the human shaped object that had just come into view. They had just come running from the back alley of Remy's and stopped. Doubling over as though they were catching their breath.

_Who could it be? Joggers wouldn't just run into the street like that. What's going on?_ As Kevin opened the door of his jeep to investigate, the object came towards him and he could now see that it was a human, a waitress to be precise.

Her cheeks were red, a look of confusion covering her delicate features. Her long blond hair was put up into a ponytail, but most of it seemed to have fallen out of it and was tucked behind her ears. She was wearing a grey dress with a white shirt underneath, a black bow at the neck completing the look.

The she spoke, her voice filled with fear. "Hey, can you give me a ride out of here?"

"Sure. Hop in" Kevin locked eyes with the girl and could sense her distress. His training had taught him a lot about these situations; if somebody looked rattled, then they were to be given what they wanted, anything to calm them down a bit. Then you could ask the questions and get to the bottom of things.

The woman walked slowly to the jeep and opened the passenger door sitting next to him at the front. "Who's back there?"

"Oh. I found him in the garage shop. He didn't look too well and he looks a lot worse now. I'm glad that I decided to take him to the hospital". The man's face was now so pale that you could almost see beneath the skin. He wasn't moving at all. _Maybe he's dead. Now stop being pessimistic, he'll be fine once he gets to the hospital. It's just a cold. Isn't it?_

Kevin started up the jeep again; nothing would get in the way of getting this man to the hospital no matter what. It would just have to wait. "So what's your name?" Kevin asked the woman trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"It's Cindy. Cindy Baker. I work at Remy's; although by the way I'm dressed you probably could've guessed it. What's yours?"

"My name's Kevin. So where do you wanna go? After I get this man sorted out I should be able to get you out of here."

"I'm still not sure if I want to leave Raccoon City. It's just. No, you wouldn't believe me if I told you".

She was actually opening up to him, even though she had been so distraught before. He couldn't miss the opportunity to find out what had spooked her so much. "C'mon you can tell me. I've seen a lot of weird things on the job. Surprise me".

"Okay. But you're not going to like it".

Cindy filled him in on the situation at Remy's and the mindless _things_ that had once been her friends. As well as Rose's mysterious resurrection from the dead.

"Wow! Are you sure she was actually dead? Maybe she was just unconscious," Kevin said.

"I know what I saw! She had bite marks in her neck. Her eyes were frozen open. Her face was blank. What more do you want". She couldn't believe this guy. He asked her to tell him what happened and then dismissed it almost immediately. "Oh, Whatever. You don't believe me anyway do you?"

"Well maybe there's some sort of explanation for all this. When I drop this man off at the hospital we'll go back to Remy's and check it out".

She couldn't argue with that. She probably would have said the same thing if she hadn't experienced it for herself. _Maybe there was some sort of reasonable explanation. I just hope that he's right._

"What's happening to all of my patients?" George Lyson flipped through the medical charts of the ten victims of the latest outbreak of a killer disease at the Raccoon City Hospital.

'Day 1 – Patients complexion becomes pale, almost translucent.

Day 2 – Eyes become red and bloodshot accompanied by a fever and temporary loss of vision. Complexion remains pale.

Day 3 – Patient feels a mild discomfort in their throat followed by a straining of the voice. Hours later they fall into a coma.'

The file ended there. That was the stage that his patients were at now. Just a few hours ago his last patient to come in, Mr Rawlinson, had fell into a deep sleep, the room falling eerily quiet.

Through the grey blinds of his office he could see Mrs Alexander. She was very frail, had been when she came in here, was about eighty-two, eighty-three, he couldn't remember. His mind concentrated on more important issues. Suddenly, she got up from her bed, dazed and confused and slowly staggered towards George's office.

He could barely contain his excitement, if one of his patients had come up from a battle of this killer disease, an eighty-something year old, then there was definitely hope for the other nine. But he had to be sure first before he could crack open the wine and have a party; he would have to give Mrs Alexander a full examination before confirming what he believed.

Getting off his comfy office chair and actually getting a good look at Mrs Alexander revealed to him that he had been wrong, terribly wrong about his earlier assumption…

Her face remained deathly pale as before but was now badly dehydrated, folds of skin peeling away from her face. She was coming towards him in a trance like state, moaning slightly as she lifted her feet up and moved along the floor. The sound of hunger underlying her weak moaning rasps. She was coming straight towards him, but why? He didn't have any food on him or around the area that he was standing. In fact the kitchen along with the snack machines went off in the other direction. _Why is she coming towards me?_ How _is she coming towards me? She hasn't eaten for days. Shouldn't have the strength to stand let alone walk._

Then she came at him faster, as though she could sense his fear and she stopped-

Right in front of Mr Rawlinson's bed eyeing him up like he was some piece of meat. And then she lunged at him, biting into his torso like a crazed animal. Ripping through the man's shirt and drawing blood, the taste of which seemed to drive her to go for more, ripping through his flesh as though he was a turkey at Christmas.

George had to do something. He couldn't just stand there and watch her rip the guy to piece, literally. He searched the room for something, anything to stop her. He didn't have a gun, wouldn't have been able to use one if he had. Then he saw it. An iron pipe propped against the wall in the corner, in his reach - the plumbers had come a few weeks ago and removed it after water had started leaking over the floor – and he grabbed it. Putting both hands around it, locking them together. He came towards Mrs Alexander and lifted the pole into the air, bringing it down full force on top of her back. _It's okay. She's not Mrs Alexander anymore you had to do it. You could have been next._

He heard the crack, echoing as it bounced off the walls of the room, piercing through the sound of flesh being ripped out. But the thing didn't move, carried on devouring flesh as though nothing had happened. He hit it again, this time cracking open the skull with the pole, and it fell on top of Rawlinson, dark liquid pouring from the wound, bathing him in black. It was over now. It was gone.


	3. Hospital Havoc

**Chapter Three**

_Gotta get out of here! Gotta get some air!_ George ran to the back of the ward, breaking the eerie silence with his footsteps. He passed the snack machine along the way and his stomach turned just thinking about his earlier assumptions of the cannibal, Mrs Alexander. _What happened to her? Will all of my patients turn in to ravenous beasts of the undead?_

He slammed through the double doors of the cafeteria and stopped to catch his breath, the doors swinging back behind him. _Wait a minute. Where is everybody? There should be at least one person here an employee or otherwise._ But there wasn't. This room was just as quiet as the ward, which didn't do much to help George calm down.

He walked slowly over to the back of the room, the light above flickering on and off. Then he noticed something. Moving closer into the darkness as the light flickered off. _Is that what I think it is? No it can't be……can it?_

The light flashed on again and his mind was in disbelief about what he had just seen; A pool of dark liquid oozing from an old brown boot, which rested in the centre of the puddle. Except it wasn't just a boot, a person's leg was still inside it, cutting off halfway up the knee. It looked like it had been snapped clean off. _But what could have done this?_

Suddenly, a man emerged from the darkness dragging his body across the floor. He looked as though he had the same infection as Mrs Alexander, his eyes lifeless. Then man opened his mouth, as though to speak, but all that was heard was a hunger-filled rasp.

He was gaining on George now and at an amazing rate considering he was on the floor and by the look of him, it was his boot surrounded by the dark liquid.

Through the shock of the situation unfolding before him, George had found himself on the floor, his arms leaning on the floor for support so that he wouldn't fall flat on the ground. He tried to get a grip on the slippery tiles, not wanting to end up like Mr Rawlinson in the ward. He would prefer to walk out of this hospital alive.

Then he caught a glimpse of another. Except this was a woman and she was standing up, but by the look of her, she had suffered the same fate as the crawling man. She couldn't move as fast as him though, which was to George's advantage. She had the stance of an elderly woman, moving as though she was in a trance, coming closer and closer to him.

The two bodies were now gaining on George, and fast. _I need to get out of here, but where can I go? How many other _things_ are out there wandering around the hospital and God knows where else? Well first things first, I'll have to get out of here. Then I can plan what to do next if this is an outbreak of epidemic proportions._

He managed to move himself towards the thick metal doors that led towards the front of the building, willing his hands to work, willing his whole body to get back up so that he could get out of there.

Soon he was on his feet again, his whole body shaking as he tried to open the door, pulling the handle with all of his strength, but to no avail. _Someone must have locked the door from the other side. Maybe they locked these _things_ in here and now I'm trapped in here with them. I'm going to die here; I should've just stayed in my office._

Then a loud crash came from the reception area. _Please don't let it be more of these ravenous monsters_. Then he heard gunshots and the whole room seemed to move in slow motion as the woman toppled to the ground. George took his chance and ran towards his office. After all, they could suspect him of being one of those mindless zombies and he might get a bullet to the brain like that woman did.

He ran and ran as fast as he could, smashing through the cafeteria doors, coming back into the ward and into his office. He would be safe here he was sure of it. _But what if they come looking for me. I'll hide. Yes that's what I'll do._ So he shut the blinds of his office and went back to hiding under the table in his office.

He heard footsteps rush by, it sounded like two people, but at least one of them had a gun. His office door opened slowly with a creak as the footsteps came closer and George thought that it was all over

When Cindy and Kevin finally pulled up outside the Raccoon City Hospital they were enveloped by the eerie silence as the jeep's engine died. The place looked deserted though. Windows in front of the four-storey building were either smashed or cracked. _Bringing a sick man into this place may not be such a good idea. What the hell happened here? This place looks like a war zone. _But only when the though crept into his mind did Kevin realise how right he was. Cars were turned over abandoned in the streets, too smashed up to be of any use. Shattered glass littered the floor looking like diamonds as the moonlight cast a strange glow over them.

"Maybe we should go inside and maybe find out what's going on around here". Cindy ventured towards the door not knowing what horrors could be lurking behind it. She grabbed the metal door handle emblazoned with a red cross set inside a gold hexagon; the Raccoon City Hospital's crest. A chill went down her spine as she imagined dozens of scenarios that could unfold as she entered beyond the barrier.

Darkness shadowed any movement inside, but a lone lamp outside provided enough light to see the reception area and the waiting room, and by the look of things, it was as bad on the inside as it was on the outside. The light reflected off the glass pane in the middle of the door and she noticed something move in Kevin's jeep. "Kevin what are you doing in the jeep? Stop fooling around. I'm scared enough as it is".

"I'm not in the jeep". Kevin jogged to Cindy's position, "it must be that man from the gas station. Maybe he's feeling better". Kevin walked cautiously towards his jeep. After hearing the story Cindy had told him he didn't want to be caught off guard, even if there was a rational explanation for it. "Sir? Are you alright?" but there was no answer, just a raspy moaning sound. He looked in the back where the sound seemed to be coming from and although he couldn't see much in the poor light, he knew that the man had gone. _But where could he have gone? He was unconscious a few minutes ago…wasn't he?_

Suddenly, something jumped from the shadows behind him and grabbed him from behind. The grip wasn't very firm and Kevin was athletic and knew what to do in a situation like this. He grabbed its arm, which felt like jelly and threw it over his shoulder. It smashed down on the asphalt hard with a few cracking bones audible in the still night. Kevin's eyes fell to the ground where the body lay discovering that it was none other than the gas station attendant. But he was different. Skin was peeling from his face and an insatiable hunger could be seem in his eyes as he tried to stand up and attack Kevin again. But Kevin was too fast. A quick kick with his right foot into the man's gut settled him instantly.

Then, as if from nowhere, about twenty people were standing around him and even though the lighting was bad he could see that they were indeed suffering from the same illness as the man on the floor. They approached him, somehow sensing fresh meat, but Kevin wasn't going to give up so easily. He may be outnumbered but he wasn't outdone. Fighting them all would be suicide; he would need to find somewhere safe to escape these fiends for Cindy's sake as well as his.

He sprinted towards Cindy who had just watched the whole thing happen right in front of her. She was frozen with fear and shock when Kevin finally reached her; unable to move from where she stood as though her feet were glued to the ground. Kevin shook her trying to snap her out of the state she was in so she could get the adrenaline pumping and move! "Come on Cindy, Please! We have to hurry".

Somehow what Kevin said made Cindy react and she turned on her heel, yanked the door open and fled, leaving the situation behind her. Kevin followed hot on her heels. They arrived in a reception area that doubled as a waiting area for patients before being examined by a doctor. It was pretty dark inside, the only light behind them, which prevented a close inspection. Kevin searched the room for something to barricade the door with to at least protect them long enough from the hordes of mutilated creatures heading their way. It looked like there was a shutter in front of the door in case of an emergency, but there didn't seem to be a way to operate it, and even if there were, it would need power.

The most logical place for an emergency power generator would be the basement, but he didn't want to leave Cindy alone, and by the time he came back, it may be too late. The reception area may have something useful that could help them for a while. Kevin ran to the reception desk and searched for anything that could be associated with either the emergency power and or the shutter. It was covered with correspondence with the hospital's logo on the front, but nothing seemed eye-catching enough to be read. There were a few pens and pencils in the drawer as well as a gold key with a biohazard symbol etched onto it. He pocketed the key and continued his search coming up with nothing. "I'm sorry about al this Cindy. I didn't mean to bring you into all of this trouble"

"It's alright. It wasn't your fault and I'm sure I would have come across this place sooner or later. I'm just glad I'm not alone in all of this. So do you believe me about Rose? Or was she just playing a trick on me. Oh that is so not funny."

"You bet I believe you. After being surrounded by about twenty of those things there's no doubt about it". _But what the hell is going on here? How did everyone in the city become infected? Well maybe I should think about this later. I seriously doubt that the creatures outside are going to wait much longer to attack._ "This room is coming up empty. We'll have to search somewhere else for an escape route, preferably one that doesn't involve going up against hordes of the undead. This place isn't much safer than outside. There could be ten times as many zombies in here. After all, it is a hospital."

"Then where do you suggest we go? There is no electricity, at least not here, how are we going to find our way around this maze. I think it was built to confuse us." Cindy laughed, for the first time since Rose had 'turned', maybe she was starting to come to terms with her loss. _Rest in Peace my friend and be sure that I'll get whoever's behind your death and I'll make them pay dearly for it._

"I think we should try the basement first. There's a map on that wall I'm sure I can take it down and viola I have a torch to light the w-

Smash! Kevin was cut off by the sound of glass falling on the floor. It was the glass pane from the front door, which had fallen through along with a zombie's bloody hand. Although dark liquid oozed from its hand, the creature apparently felt no pain.

"Well no time like the present." Cindy picked up an ashtray that lay on one the tables in the waiting area and smashed the glass that surrounded the gold-framed map. She used the ashtray to get rid of any sharp edges and pulled the A3 piece of paper out of captivity and ran to the nearest set of stairs on the map. "Follow me. The basement's this way."

"What about the zombies?" Kevin asked.

"They're too slow to be of much danger to us and it's going to take them all a long time to get through a glass pane in a door." Cindy slowed down as Kevin caught up. "Hey can I borrow that torch?"

"Sure" Kevin passed her the small L-shaped torch, which she tucked into the top pocket of her white t-shirt giving a small amount of visibility as they raced into the unknown.

"It's finally completed!" Alyssa Johnson couldn't help shouting out to the world. She had finally created a vaccine to combat the killer disease known as the T-Virus. She would now be able to sell it to the highest bidder and become the richest scientist alive.

Weeks of sleepless nights had all paid off. It was now complete. _The others had given up hope, thought I was stupid to carry on with this, but who's laughing now!_ She walked over to the glass vial that contained her latest creation, the light blue liquid inside the capsule giving off a slight glow. She picked it up out of the synthesizer and held it in her hands. Just touching it, holding it in her hands, gave her a feeling of immense power.

She slid the four-digit code on the Titanium suitcase dial, which was placed on top of the metallic bench inside the lab, and slowly opened it placing the vaccine into the indentation and closing it. _It will be safe there. Nobody even knows of its existence, not even Umbrella. That is until I am safely out of this godforsaken town._ _Now for a place to hide it until I have secured my escape._ She walked briskly towards the statue of a businessman with his hand held open to hold something. A bronze plaque with the words "_Work hard and you can achieve anything_". Alyssa reflected on the company motto, _with words like that its no wonder I turned out like I did_.

The statue was made of a metal alloy identical in colour to the briefcase that she held in her hand, which she placed in the statue's lifeless hands. A second passed and the weight of the briefcase began a mechanism inside the statue opening a hole in the wall as the statue began to turn on its circular foundation into the wall only to be replaced by a fully Bronze statue identical to the first except this was missing a suitcase. _Perfect. Now how am I going to get out of here?_


	4. Obtaining The Sample

Chapter Four 

"Where did he go?" barked a deep Russian voice. "Is he infected?" The man jogged though the cafeteria dodging the freshly-slain zombies, one of whom was still crawling across the floor, regardless of whether he had legs or not. The man stopped watching as the creature that lay before him struggled towards him letting out a moaning rasp as it moved along the marble floor. He admired the creature's determination and realised why Umbrella had designed such creations. _A bit of tweaking and we could have ourselves an elite team of mercenaries here. They don't even _feel_ pain._ But the creature in front of him was far from those that he had envisioned. It had to be destroyed before it infected others with whatever pathogen was flowing through its bloodstream and with one swift movement of his leg he crushed the creature's head into dark mush.

"He went that way" directed a German voice, footsteps sounding towards the ward. "Hurry up! Stop gawking at that thing and get a move on". A second set of footsteps beat, echoing through the eerie quiet of the hallway. The ward doors swung open smashing into the wall behind them. The mercenaries obviously believed that they had the upper hand here, their stealth training thrown out of the window, they were only after a doctor after all, who obviously knew of their existence, they had to find him and eliminate him.

The ward was just as quiet as the other rooms that they had visited except this was different. Ten beds were set out at equal distances from each other with a different person laying in each, but one was not occupied. Closest to where they stood was an empty mattress stained slightly with a dark colour, a trail of which journeyed towards another cot that was at the back of the room. An elderly woman lay on top of another body, covered in the same dark liquid as before except she had major damage to the cranium by what looked like a steel pipe that lay beside the bed. The men walked closer to inspect the scene, the pipe was indeed covered with the dark liquid that had covered the woman and what could now be seen as a man with his chest ripped open. A foul odour of decomposition filled the men's nostrils as they realised that she was dead.

All that was left to search was the office that spread across the back of the room. "Maybe our man's inside there", said Russian as he stepped closer. The blinds of the window were pulled down, but the wooden door of the office was definitely not locked, opened just a crack as though it had been slammed shut in the heat of the moment. The two men stepped closer, German pushing it open with his AK-47 whilst scanning the room with his eyes. There was no sign of movement, but a pair of shoes could be seen beneath the desk. "Unlucky for some", he said confidently.

"Unlucky for you", whispered an unknown voice.

Running blindly through the darkness of the hospital had led Kevin and Cindy to a hallway littered with abandoned hospital trolleys. A distinct odour emanated from this place sending shivers down Cindy's spine. The sheets of the gurneys were soiled with a dark substance, varying in intensity from stretcher to stretcher.

"I guess this is it", Cindy shone the tiny L-shaped torch over the map that she had acquired earlier from the reception area and inspected it closely, moving her finger along the passageway where they stood. "It's just through that door". Upon further investigation of the map the pair had discovered that the power generator was _not_ in fact in the basement, but was in a separate building outside, adjacent to the boiler room.

"There's only one way to find out". Kevin stepped closer to the end of the hallway carefully manoeuvring through the sea of trolleys that lay before him. He eyed up the steel door at the end of the hallway noticing that a padlocked barred the way. _But was it to keep what was _outside_ out or what was _inside_ in_. "Stand back Cindy", Kevin motioned Cindy back with his hand as he pulled his 9mm berretta from its holster, standard issue for a cop, aimed at the lock and fired. "Problem solved".

Kevin opened nudged the door open his the free hand scanning the outside for anything conspicuous, but came up blank. Besides he couldn't see much outside anyway due to the lack of light and their only source was in Cindy's hands. Cindy ventured out behind Kevin seconds later, filling his eyes with coveted light. With the scene before him illuminated Kevin braved the evening night, treading closer toward the building that stood out in the distance.

It was a one-storey building, comparative in size to two bungalows. Not much could been seen from here he stood, as trees blocked his view, except for a few windows, which were probably for ventilation purposes and some double doors set into the western wall. Crows could be seen perched upon electricity wires, which fed into the building, squawking continuously as the duo stepped closer toward the other building.

Cindy scanned the ground beneath her feet, worrying about stepping on something that so obviously belonged in a horror movie, until her eyes came across a shape a few feet in front of her. As she walked closer she could make out a human-like shape lying on its stomach. The figure looked like a man, wearing a hospital scrub, huge gashes could be seen on his back, red outlining the wounds. _What happened to this poor guy?_ She searched the new environment trying to find her answer, but was interrupted by the incessant squawking of the crows.

Suddenly, the birds swooped down from where they sat and began circling Cindy, piercing through her skin with their beaks as they passed. "Ahh! Help me!" She heard a door close by swing open on its hinges and strong hands grabbed her waist pulling her towards the sound, but then her body went limp and she felt nothing.

The blonde, half-Chinese assassin took out the incompetent mercenary with one foul swoop of her Katana. With her back against the wall she grabbed the blade by its hilt, pulling it out of its sheath and moving it swiftly to her right, as if she was pebbling with an oar, it glided effortlessly through the man's stomach, sling the man's stomach open. He stifled a yelp as he fell to the ground searching the room for the culprit of such a heinous attack, but she was too quick, already on the roof waiting on the pipes for her prey to enter.

A second man wearing an identical suit as the first entered the room, far more cautiously than the last who still writhed in pain on the floor below. _Never let your guard down no matter how easy the kill is_. The man's eyes explored the room looking for a clue as to what had just happened, how a doctor had managed to kill a mercenary. His head tilted upright locking gaze with bright, blue eyes and then he was shooting, a spray of rifle bullets following her trail as she manoeuvred about the room. The gunfire ceased and the smoke died down, a figure walking from the wreckage unscathed, blade in hand, came close to the man, stunned by the sight that was before him, unsure whether to shoot or run. She lay the blade between his feet and raised it towards the roof, chopping him in half from head to toe, each piece falling in opposite directions bordering the bloody body of the first fight. _Finally I can get some work done._

Bullets scarred the metal desk where George had sought refuge. He had screwed his eyes shut trying to block out the world that he was unable to escape from, his hands clasped around his ears, muffling the sound of gunfire and screams of grown men as they were fought against an attack. _But who could it have been?_ _Were they helping me?_ Cold hands disturbed his thoughts as they slowly moving his hands away from his ears. "It's alright, it's over now", went a rugged female voice.

George opened his eyes, gazing into the woman's beautiful blue eyes through her stylish black glasses, as she flicked her long blonde hair. She took his hands, leading him out from under the table where he could get a better view of her. She wore a black business suit, which comfortably hugged her slim figure with a short shirt showing off her long legs, which stood in a pair of black heels. A long metallic box lay behind her looking rather heavy "Who are you?" George looked the woman up and down, a puzzled expression imprinted on his face. After all, it's not everyday a woman rescues you from a team of elite mercenaries out to get you after believing that you are one of the walking undead.

"My name is Ling Mei", she said using her alias, "I'm looking for someone. Her name is Alyssa Johnson." She pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose as they started to irritate her. _This guy had better know where she is, I've just saved his pathetic little life for god's sake. The sooner I get what I need, the sooner I can steal that X-T-Vaccine, get out of this disgusting place before it's blown off the face of the earth, and collect my bounty._

"Alyssa Johnson? She's a well respected woman, together with an elite team of scientists, known as 'the seven' she has worked tirelessly to rid the world of its many natural atrocities." _Oh and I wonder what she works so _tirelessly_ for; the money or the satisfaction she gets from believing that she's helping defenceless children against disease when they are used to protect the rich and powerful._ "She works in the research lab on level 6, but it's a restricted area." His eyes fell to the floor. "What's in the box?"

"A stealth suit, two pistols and a katana with the ability to slice through three people at a time." The doctor's expression was priceless. "Just kidding," she laughed. "It's a vaccine I've developed to cure a disease that has been plaguing this city and she's asked to see it", she lied.

"Oh, okay," he sounded hesitantly. "But why didn't you ask for her at reception?"

"There was no reception." She picked up the metal case, which stored all of her gear, walked out of his office and went in search of the nearest elevator.


End file.
